reasons

  There is now some hope for a lasting peace in the middle east. Of course in the middle east "lasting" is a word with a different meaning. There has been unrest and fighting going on there since Biblical times, indeed, even before that. Still, if a few years of peaceful existence can be managed it is a win. The discussion centers around the Gaza strip and who will control that. The other big issue is Hamas. Will Hamas disband completely and just disappear from the political landscape? No, it won't. That's my thinking about that. The name may change, their activities curtailed for a while, but they will regroup and the fighting will continue at some point. Over two thousand years of history support that idea. Remember ISIS and the Taliban? You don't hear much about them these days but they are still around. They are hanging out in Syria. 

 I'm certainly no expert on the middle east. I really know little about their history and the underlining issues that keep the whole area stirred up all the time. It's the Jewish people, the philistines, the Arabs, the Muslims, the Christians and a few others in constant opposition to one another. The middle east was central to trade in the old days and is still an important region in global markets. At one time in history it was spices, and today it is oil. Israel became a state in 1948, a monumental event. The Jewish state. A nation for the Jewish people to live and practice their faith in peace. After thousands of years of persecution the hope was for peaceful coexistence with the other major religious groups in the world. An end to prejudice.

  Will man ever eradicate prejudice? No, that isn't going to happen, not ever. The best we can ever hope to achieve is a peaceful coexistence. The problem is and will continue to be those that will impose their beliefs upon others. The truth in that is really it isn't about belief, it is about wealth and the control of that wealth. It is why people always have conflict, the other person having something of value that others desire. Prejudice is just the excuse for acting on that desire. I deserve it and I'm going to just take it. You are inferior to me in some fashion. The list of things that make you inferior is a long one, your skin color, your nationality, you religion, your education, and the list goes on. It might even be because of some of your ancestors that may or may not have done hundreds, or thousands of years ago. So, no prejudice will never be eradicated. It even exists in the Star Wars and Star Trek movies and shows. 

  What does Hamas want? They want to establish their own Islamic state. That's the long and short of it. Not much different really than the PLO and the Muslim Brotherhood, just some ideological differences but the intent is the same. Israel achieved that goal in 1948 when they became recognized internationally as the State of Israel. They have faced opposition to that agreement ever since. In fact since 1948 Israel has been involved in eight recognized wars with their neighboring nations. I have no opinion as to who is to blame for that. As I said, I'm no expert on the middle east and the affairs of state involving those nations. All I really know is that it has been going on since before Biblical times and I'm convinced it will continue. 

  According to Google the longest stretch of peace in the middle east was thirty years following the Camp David Accords. I hope that can be achieved once again, maybe for even a longer period of time. What will happen to the area called the Gaza strip? Could that area become a sort of "Switzerland" a neutral area to create a buffer zone between nations? Will it become another DMZ? That was established in Korea seven days after my birth in 1953. 

  For seventy two years north and south have been separated like feuding brothers. Could the same be possible in Gaza? No, I don't think so because we are talking about Muslims, Christians and Jews. Not the same family. Not the same identities. There are two villages in the Korean DMZ that are under the control of the United Nations Command. It was tried in Vietnam as well, but only lasted 22 years. That nation was reunited in 1976. But Israel is a separate and distinct entity entirely from the other Arab nations. They don't want to be "reunited" with anyone, nor does any Arab nation want to unite with them. No, and that's the whole problem in a nutshell, always has been, and in my opinion will continue in that fashion.  

                                                                                 

  This image is the Korean DMZ. A buffer zone, heavily militarized by north and south with the United Nations controlling the two villages settled there. The difference, I believe, is two brothers are separated and have agreed not to fight each other, still not speaking, but they are brothers.